The age requirement for Vice President of the United States is 35. The Constitution does not set that number for the vice presidency directly. Instead, the Twelfth Amendment says that anyone ineligible to be President is also ineligible to be Vice President, and Article II sets the presidential minimum age at 35. The same route imports two other requirements: natural born citizenship and 14 years of U.S. residency.1Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution Article II Section 1 Clause 52Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Twelfth Amendment
Why the Minimum Age Is 35
Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 lists three qualifications for the presidency: natural born citizenship, 14 years of U.S. residency, and a minimum age of 35.1Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution Article II Section 1 Clause 5 That clause says nothing about the Vice President. On its own, it would leave the vice presidency without any constitutional qualifications at all.
The Twelfth Amendment, ratified on June 15, 1804, closes the gap. Its final sentence provides that no person constitutionally ineligible for the presidency can be eligible for the vice presidency.2Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Twelfth Amendment One line pulls in the full Article II checklist, age included. Someone who is 34 cannot run for Vice President, just as they cannot run for President.
The youngest person ever to hold the office, John C. Breckinridge, took office in 1857 at age 36, barely above the floor.
Citizenship and Residency
Age is only one of the three requirements. A Vice President must also be a natural born citizen, meaning someone who held U.S. citizenship from birth rather than acquiring it later through naturalization.1Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution Article II Section 1 Clause 5 The Constitution does not define the phrase, and the Supreme Court has never fully tested it. The general consensus covers anyone born on U.S. soil and anyone born abroad to U.S. citizen parents, though the edges of that definition remain debated.
The third qualification is 14 years of residency in the United States. The Constitution does not say the years must be consecutive, and the prevailing reading treats cumulative time as sufficient.3Cornell Law Institute. U.S. Constitution Article II Time spent abroad in military or diplomatic service has not historically been treated as breaking the count.
Other Ways a Candidate Can Be Disqualified
Clearing the age, citizenship, and residency thresholds does not by itself guarantee eligibility. Two other constitutional provisions can bar someone from the office, and a third raises an unresolved question.
Impeachment with disqualification. Under Article I, Section 3, the Senate may combine removal from office with a bar from holding any future federal office. That disqualification reaches the vice presidency along with every other federal post. The Senate has affirmed that officials who leave office before trial concludes remain subject to conviction and disqualification.4Congress.gov. Overview of Impeachment Clause
Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3. Section 3 disqualifies anyone who previously took an oath to support the Constitution as a federal or state officer and then engaged in insurrection or rebellion. The bar covers any “office, civil or military, under the United States,” which includes the vice presidency. Congress can lift the disability, but only by a two-thirds vote of each chamber.5Constitution Annotated. Section 3 – Disqualification From Holding Office
The Twenty-Second Amendment question. The Twenty-Second Amendment says no person can be “elected to the office of the President more than twice.” Whether a two-term former president can serve as Vice President is unresolved. The Twelfth Amendment bars anyone “constitutionally ineligible” for the presidency from the vice presidency; the Twenty-Second bars two-term presidents from being elected president again. Legal scholars disagree on whether that makes a two-term president ineligible for the vice presidency or only ineligible to be elected president a third time. No court has ruled on it.6Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-Second Amendment
How Eligibility Actually Gets Checked
No single federal agency screens vice presidential candidates for constitutional eligibility before they appear on a ballot. Enforcement is scattered, and it is thinner than most people assume.
At the federal level, candidates who raise or spend above a threshold file a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.7Federal Election Commission. Instructions for Statement of Candidacy (FEC Form 2) That form registers the candidacy and designates a committee. It does not require proof of age, citizenship, or residency. The FEC regulates campaign finance, not constitutional eligibility.
The real gatekeeping happens at the state level. Each state sets its own ballot access rules under the Electors Clause. Some states require documentation or affidavits affirming eligibility; others accept a filing fee and signatures without any eligibility screening. State authority also has limits. In Trump v. Anderson (2024), the Supreme Court held that states lack the power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment’s disqualification clause against federal candidates, reserving that power to Congress.8Congress.gov. Examining Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment as It Applies to Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates
What that leaves is largely political self-policing. Presidential nominees pick running mates who clearly satisfy all three Article II requirements, and opponents, journalists, and voters raise objections when they believe a candidate falls short. The formal legal mechanisms exist, but they are much thinner than the constitutional text suggests.